Concrete Patios in Parma, OH

Concrete patios are the simplest way to turn part of a Parma back yard into somewhere to sit, cook and eat. Many homes here started with a small slab outside the back door, often just big enough for two chairs, and it has usually settled toward the house or cracked by now. A new patio can be sized for the table and grill you actually own, sloped correctly and built to stay flat.

Sizing a patio for a mid-century lot

On homes where a side driveway runs back to a detached garage, the drive takes up one side of the lot. That leaves a back yard where every square foot counts. We start by laying out where the table, grill and walkways will go, then size the slab around them. A 12 by 12 foot patio fits a small table and two chairs. A 16 by 16 or larger area makes room for a grill and a full dining set. We also look at how the patio meets the driveway, the garage and the back door, since tying them together can save pouring a separate walk.

Water has to go somewhere

On older houses the biggest patio problem is drainage toward the foundation. A slab that tips toward the house sends rain and snowmelt straight to the basement wall. Every patio we pour slopes away from the house, typically about an eighth to a quarter inch per foot, and we check that the water has somewhere to go after it leaves the slab. If downspouts dump onto the patio area, we plan around them.

Signs the old patio should go

• The slab tilts toward the house or holds water by the door
• Cracks have opened and pieces have shifted out of level
• The surface is flaking or pitted from salt and freezing
• Tree roots have lifted one side
• The patio is too small for how you want to use the yard

Finish options

A broom finish is the most economical and gives good grip. Exposed aggregate shows the stone in the mix and hides dirt well. Color can be mixed in or applied to the surface. Stamped patterns add the look of stone or brick, covered on our stamped concrete page. Saw-cut patterns, such as a diamond grid or a border, give plain concrete a finished look at a modest cost. Whatever the finish, it gets sealed, because a patio in Northeast Ohio spends half the year wet, frozen or under snow.

How a patio is built

We remove the old slab if there is one, dig out the sod and soil, and set a compacted crushed stone base. Forms are staked to the planned slope. Wire mesh or rebar goes in to hold cracks tight. Concrete is placed, screeded, floated and finished, and control joints are tooled or saw-cut so any cracking follows straight lines. After a few days of curing the forms come off and the edges are backfilled.

Care through the seasons

Keep furniture off for a few days and heavy items like a hot tub off until we say the slab is ready. Clear snow with a plastic shovel, use sand instead of salt the first winter, and reseal every few years. Rinse off fertilizer granules, which can stain and etch the surface.